Metallic railway-tie.



Ya i the tie is in position, extends perpendicu-j ria AUGUSTUS FREDERIC BROWN, or Have-E DE Genesi/inermi), .AssIGNoR 'ro Gon- RELL STEEL 'SPIKE LOCK yRAILROAD TIE CORPORATION, GF HAVRE DE GRACE,

MARYLAND, A CORPORATION OFMARYLAND. f i l M is'iisinnio RAILWAY-TIE.

Specicatioii of Letters Patent.

Appiication inea August 20,1915. sefiaiivo. 45,532.'

To all whom t may concern:

' scribe and claim.

Be it known that I AUGUSTUS F. BROWN a citizen of thel United States, residing at Havre' de Grace, in the c'oiinty of Harford and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metallic Railway-Ties, of which the following is a specification.

'Myr invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in metallic railway ties and rail fastenings and particularlytiesformed of substantially similar sections of pressed steel or like metal, as disclosed more fully in my former Patent No. 1,127,350, dated February 2, 1915.

The leading object ofv the present invern' tion is to supply 4a tie substantially'of the character before mentioned, with -means whereby spike-receiving recesses may' be forniedjin separate sectional lboxes whose components are rigidly secured to the sec` tions vof the tie andhave their inner edges fashioned sinuous Aor withalternate projec-v tions and depressions to formtherebetweeii/y a vertical 'channel of substantiallyserpentine shape for the reception and distortion ofthe spikes which are employed to secure the railsto the tie. n

l/Vith the above and vother objects in view,

my invention consists` of the parts andthe lar reference characters indicate like parts in the` several views; Figure lis a sidey elevation of vay railway tie embodyingmy in.-

vention, showing one end of one ofthe sec. tions broken away.' Fig. 2 is an enlarged. similar view of one end'of a modifiedform.A

" Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view onthe line X-'X of Fig. 2. `Fig. 4L is a detail tobe referred to.

In said drawing A represents a railwaytie formed entirely of metal and, preferably,

of two vsimilar sections, A-`A2, of' pressedk steel or the like, each'of said'sections comprising a transverse bottom flange, a', ofy

suitable width, and a flange, I), which, when larly to thek flange, a, rises from the vin- Pamea Nov. 2, i915.: .i

ner edge. thereof and extends from yend to i end of the tie. The two secti so'ineappropriate manner. `This "may be done asin thel before mentioned patented construction by providing one of the sections". with a pin or post, 10, which extends:

transversely from Iits'-innersurface and is designedtoY enter and extendthrough' a corresponding opening,12, formed in the flange portion,6, of the other secti on,theproj'ect ing portionof thel pin or post being then headed` down tounite the sections, or, if desired, the projectingportionfo'f thepin or post may be threaded'to receive a' suitable nut, as in Fig. 4.

For the .sake at time to give `added" strength tothe tie, the

ons, of the tie are similar in character and con'stri'ictionV and v they are adapted to be joined togetherv in verticali flanres, ofthe sections, AfL-Ai?,

thereof may e formedjwitli openings', c, at

ythe ends andy intermediate" portions, asffis wellknwm in this art.rv

' The-upper portion of the*verticalflange,`

o, of each section i ofthe tie is widenedff transversely by yforming' the section with.

horizontal 'flan'gesfd, one' near each end, which flanges are designedto inatch `andto eXteiidfor asiiitable distance along the up-f per edge ofthe section whereby 'when the two sections ofthe tie are fitted together, the-'horizontal"flanges, d, form seats and supports, e, for the'usual railway rails, B.

Atoneor both sides of the rail seats, e",

Y the vertical flanges, and horizontal flanges,

CZ, ofV thev sections ofthe tie areV formed in? tegrally or otherwise. provided with vertil` cally. matching shoulders, f, which engage thefhoriz'ontal base flange offtherails, B, and by vwhich lateral spreading of the rails is prevented.

vInorder to practically and eflicientlysupply the pressed sections of the tie with means for receiving and latthe same time distort-l ing the spike which secure theusual rails to the tie, andto securely lockthe spikes in place,l press or fashion the inner face of each tie-section at each sidefof the rail seat with a depression toreceive asuitable spike lock plate or bar, 20, which plates are preferably made from rolled steel, as stampings, andv which are riveted or otherwise rigidly secured to siaid section.

.The inner edges of the lock plates or bars, 20, are formed undulating; that is, with alternate elevations and depressions, 2l, which may merge one into the other to give a continuous serpentine form toa spike receiving channel, 22, which is formed by the proper spacing of the inner edges of the lock plates or bars from each other, said channel being open at the top and bottom, and the length of the lock plates or bars being about equal to the height of the vertical flange, t, of the tie, and which lock plates or bars of one section of the tie will stand opposite similar plates or bars secured tothe opposing tie section so that the space formed between the inner edges of a pair of the plates or bars on one section will match the like space formed between the inner edges ofthe plates or bars of theV other section to form the complete Vserpentine channel into `which the spike is driven and by the undulating edges of the lock plates or bars will be distorted and converted from its normal straight form into one which conforms to the shape of the channel. This distortion of the spike also results in its being self-locking during the driving operation, as described in my aforesaid prior patent.

The form of the spike receiving channels may vary within reasonable limits without departing Vfrom the spirit of the vpresent invention. YFor instance, in Fig. 2, the inner edge of one of the lock plates or bars, 30, is formed with the curved ribs 31 and the corresponding edge of the companion lock plate or bar is formed with recesses which stand opposite the ribs of the firstl mentioned lock plate or bar. In either case, a normally straight spike of Vany desired cross-section and of a diameter only slightly less than that of the channel formed between the inner edges of the lock plates or bars, when forcibly driven into the Ychannel formed therebetween will be distorted and made to conform to the shape of said channel, and at the same time locked in place without the aid of other or supplementary fastenings.

As thereis liable to be some variableness betweenthe spikes used and the fixed diam eter of the channel designed to receive the same, I show in Fig. 2, a construction which y provides for this and obviates all possibility of vibrations-in a direction at right angles to the plane of the distortion resulting from the spike being driven past the curved ribsV or projections, 31. To this end, I press the sections of the tie at points corresponding to the space formed between the inner edges of the spike ,lock plates or bars, with inner bosses, 33, which alternate with each other and with the ribs or projections, 3l, and

lwhich are designed to distort the nail or sions are formed in one side of the nail or spike and corresponding projections are olfset from the opposite side, and which projections lill the transverse space between the straight portions of the sides of the spike or nail and the corresponding portions of the walls adjacent thereto whereby the nail or spike is made to closely fit the socket or nail aperture transversely, and the nail or spike is thus prevented from having any lateral or transverse vibration or movement, and which movement is objectionable especially when the spike is used for securing a railroad rail to a metal tie, or where one part is designed to be so rigidly secured to another that lateral vibration would be a detriment.

In either of the described constructions,

the spike lock pieces form substantially Vtie the provisiony of practical means for receiving the spikes and effecting their described distortion in two directions during the driving operation.

l/Vhen it `is VdesiredY to adjust the rails transversely'to take up or compensate for wear of the treads of the rails I employ suitable metal shims, D, which may be normally straighty andwhich are placed in the opening against one of the sinuous walls thereof whereby upon driving the spike in place the shim is crowded against and into the curvatures of the wall, and is thereby so distorted as to Vmake it conform substantially tothe wavy surfaces thereof,.as rshown in Fig. l; at the same time the spike which is confined between the shim and the opposite sinuous wall ,of the opening is distorted and madel to conform substantially to the formation thereof and `also to that of the distorted shim. rIhe pressed steel sections may alsobe formed along their upper outer sides with a strengthening rib, 14;, which extends substantially from end to end of the sections, as shown in Fig. l.

The described tie is light and yet strong; it is comparatively inexpensive,rand it will be found an excellent substitute for the ordinary Wooden tie, as also for the metal'and composite tie now used for similar pur- Y poses.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A metallic railway-tie formed ofsimilar sections of pressed metal each having a vertical flange extending longitudinally thereof and being formed integrally with a part of a rail seat, each of said sections having pairs of separate plates secured to their inner surface, substantially at opposite ends of each rail seat, said plates of each pair having their inner edges spaced from each other and formed with alternating projections and depressions and the pairs of plates of one section adapted to register with the pairs of plates of the other section to form therewith spikereceiving channels of irregular form adapted to distort and lock in position normally substantially straight spikes when the latter are driven into said channels in engagement with the undulating inner edges of said plates.

2. A railway-tie formed ofsimilar sections of metal each of said sections having a rail seat near each end, and'pairs of separate plates secured to the inner surface of each section near the ends of the rail seats thereof, the plates of each pair having their inner edges spaced from each other and formed with projections and depressions so arranged that the projections on the edge of one plate will stand opposite the depres! sions in the edge of the companion plate,A

the pairs of plates on opposed sections of the tie substantially matching and the spaces between the inner edges of matching.

pairs of plates jointlyv forming spike receiving channels of irregular form adapted to distort spikes driven forcibly into said channels in contact with the formed inneredges of lthe plates. 3. A railway-tie formed of similar sections of pressed metal each-4 formedwith a portion lof a rail-seat, lsaid sections each having pairs of separate plates fixed to the inner surfaces thereof and the plates of each pair having inner edges spaced from each other and formed with alternate projections yand depressions, thel spaces vbetween the inner 'edges'of opposed pairs of'plates jointly forming a spike-receiving channel of irregular form adapted to distort a spike driven forcibly thereintol in contact with the inner edges of the plates, and said tie sections being pressed with bosses on'their inner sur faces extendingy at right angles to the projections on the inner edges 0f the plates, said bosses being alternately arranged on opposite walls of the spike receiving channel and `adapted to distort the spike laterally AUGUSTUS FREDERIC BROWN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, '.D. C. f

It is hereby certified that sthe name of the patentee in Letters Patient No. 1,158,975, granted November 2,1915, for an improvement in Metallic Railway- Ties, Was erroneously Written and printed Augustus Frederic Brown, Whereas said name should have been Written and printed Angustus Freeborn Brown; and

that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the some may conform to the record of the ease in the Potent OHice.

Signed and sealed this 7th day of December, A. D., 1915.

[SEAL] R. F. WHITEHEAD, i

Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

